Welcome to the fantasy hockey waiver wire report! We’ve made it to the playoffs, so the waiver wire becomes even more important. Every move made is going to be key, but the ones we miss might cost even more. Let’s see who we should be targeting this week.

 

Cole Caufield - Montreal Canadiens - Winger

I spoke about Cole Caufield as a speculative add two weeks ago, and the kid is finally getting a chance to play in the NHL. He’s got a ton of skill, and he was pretty good in his season debut Monday against Calgary. It’s going to be a struggle for the Habs to keep him in the lineup due to the salary cap, but as long as he’s playing, he deserves to be on a fantasy hockey team. I’m not expecting him to destroy the league, but I do think he’s going to score goals sooner rather than later.

 

Nils Hoglander - Vancouver Canucks - Winger

The Vancouver Canucks have a bunch of games they still need to play, which means we should be targeting some player on the team. Nils Hoglander has two goals in the last five games and is seeing time on the top line and second power play unit. He only has nine goals this season, but considering the number of games the Canucks have to play down the stretch, the kid could surprise us by putting up some numbers. Volume is key in fantasy hockey, so let’s hope this play works out for us and we survive another week.

 

Nick Bonino - Minnesota Wild - Center

It’s crazy that we are talking about Nick Bonino as a fantasy hockey option for your league playoffs in 2021. The veteran forward has 11-points in the last two weeks, and the Wild continue to be one of the best offensive teams in that same timeframe. I don’t know what Bonino has been eating, but he’s producing and he’s widely available on both sites. I would add him now and not hesitate to play him regularly.

 

Rasmus Dahlin - Buffalo Sabres - Defence

I know this is a long shot here, but if Rasmus Dahlin is still on the waiver wire, you need to add him. The Buffalo Sabres are still a terrible team, but Dahlin has been playing a lot better over the last few weeks, and he’s starting to rack up the points. He’s 64% owned in Yahoo! leagues, so he may still be available in shallow formats. His minus-34 is #NotGood, but your league shouldn’t be taking that stat into consideration because it's meaningless and has more to do with the team and less to do with the player. All that to say, if you can pick him up, do so immediately. 

 

Jeremy Swayman - Boston Bruins - Goalie

The Boston Bruins haven’t secured their spot in the playoffs just yet, so they still have some critical games to play. Jeremy Swayman has been exceptional this season, and he’s certainly earned the right to play more games in the last few weeks of the season. Tuukka Rask is healthy, and he will get starts, but Swayman has a 1.57 GAA and a .946 SV% this season, and he hasn’t given up more than three goals in a game since April 10th. At this point in the season, if you have a bench spot free, you might as well add the kid just to make sure no one else does. I don’t expect him to just ride the bench from now until the end of the season, so scoop him up and ride the way for the remainder of the year.






 

All stats provided by NHL.com